Tuesday, 24 May 2011

As good as it gets

Welcome friends to this the inaugural meeting of the newly formed International Division (of the ) Imbecilic Outraged Tottenham Supporters (or I.D.I.O.T.S as it is more informally known.)

This organisation was set up under the initiative of our current manager Mr. Harry Redknapp following an end of season interview on Sky Sports, when we had secured our place in the prestigious Europa Cup by coming 5th a mere 6 points behind arch rivals Arsenal.

I can see from a cursory glance at your excited faces that many of you will qualify automatically as I.D.I.O.T.S. founder members as you are wearing your 'Harry for England, Now' badges but you will not be surprised to learn that further rigorous qualifications are required.

On your seats you will have found a pre-registration questionnaire which I would like to go through with you now prior to completion.

Q.1

Do you agree that this season will prove to be as 'good as it gets'?

Q2

Do you participate in 'phone-ins' ? ( Or write blogs or take part in Spurs Fan-sites?)

Q3

Do you agree that it is unrealistic to think that we will ever beat the current top four?

Q4.

Do you agree that this season has been 'better than last'.

Q5

Are you prepared to 'go and support someone else' if you disagree with Mr. Rekdnapp?

Q6

Do you agree that this season 'couldn't have been better' for Mr. Redknapp?

Q7

Do you think that this has been a 'season of great football'?

If you can answer 'Yes' to at least five of the above then you clearly qualify as I.D.I.O.T.S. members and get immediate entry to the International Division (of the) Imbecilic Outraged Tottenham Supporters group. On payment of a small joining fee that goes into a hardship fund for distressed Premiership managers you will receive your commemorative vuvuzela in club colours and can join Harry in blowing your own trumpets.

Unfortunately Mr.JimmyG2 will not be joining us as he has 'issues' with the above and answered 'no' to every question except Q2 and believes that Mr. Redknapp is wrong on every point especially that this has been a season of great football. But in all sincerity I ask you what has JimmyG2 ever done for Spurs? Suffered is the only thing that comes to mind.

He feels that whilst there have been great performances especially in the Champions' League our general level of play has not been as good as last year and especially against teams from the lower regions of the Premiership. He is entitled to his opinion, though not according to Mr. Redknapp.

JimmyG2 speaks

Thankyou Mr.Chairman but in my own defence may I say that beating Arsenal at the Emirates from 2-0 down was quite breathtaking; beating Liverpool at Anfield for only the 6th time in a century was wonderful; Bale and the Champions' League was a revelation. But these are stand out performances and in a 50 game season a dozen or so good ones are not sufficient to support the claims of the manager.

I don't mind being called an idiot by Harry, although it's a bit like being criticised for being slow by a tortoise. Many people have come to the same conclusion over the years: my mum, wife, daughters, increasingl numbers since I started this blog. But I have supported Spurs since Harry was a 1yr old and it's my club as much as his if not more so. Having an opinion different to the manager's does not make anyone an idiot.

On other matters against Birmingham we were fortunate that Crouch went off before half time with an injury allowing our only current striker capable of hitting the target to settle in and come up with two fine strikes to snatch victory from the jaws of another home draw.

As soon as Crouch went off we settled down and Modric and Sandro, increasingly more effective in midfield got the ball down and we dominated the play. But until Pavlyuchenko came, on apart from Sandro, we didn't look like scoring. Ledley's second consecutive appearance and our second consecutive win gives us hope for the future.

I'd settle for Drogba coming in and for keeping Pavlyuchenko, and Defoe. Jermaine on the grounds that he can't possibly have as bad a season as he has had this year. At his current scoring rate Pavlyuchenko would have scored over 20 goals this season with more appearances.

Unfortunately this raises his profile and makes it more likely that he will be sold. Our strategy this window will be to sell everyone we can get half decent bids for and buy anyone we can afford or who will come to us whether or not they fit the profile of what we need.

Harry doesn't like to be criticised by fans and is obviously on the defensive. It's not the first time he has had ago at us or indeed talked up his own achievements. I wouldn't be entirely surprised if he is sacked but I don't wish for it to happen. The turmoil and disruption amongst playing and coaching staff and the inevitable settling in period will set our prospects back for next year.

Would a new manager opt to cash in on Modric or Bale in order to bring in his own men? It's a risk but if Levy is going to act it needs to happen sooner rather than later. It’s been a good season with many memories to treasure. The fact that some are disatisfied with a 5th place finish and entry to the Europa league is indicative of great progress but 'as good as it gets'? I sincerely hope not.

what gets me more than anything, isn't that fans like you are unrealistic, but that you seem to expect that everything in a season and every result will go our way just because on paper we are better than the opposition. When did this ever happen in our history ??? We always shoot ourselves in the foot when we are expected to win and we always perform above ourselves when we are not. How could you have not learnt this lesson by now ??? It really is lesson 1 in being a spurs fan yet so many of you continue to get caught out by it.

Our slip ups these days are much less than they used to be but you're acting like some religious fanatic ignoring the overwhelming evidence of no god, a suicide fan with a bomb strapped to his chest who will die with the unshakeable belief that spurs should be top of the league. Sadly, you are delusional. I am a realist and i think any top 6 finish combined with the Qtr finals of the European cup is a good season, sadly you think its a disaster. We cannot be judged by man utd or chelsea standards. We do not have the stadium or wage bill to compete off the field with these clubs. However we are closer to them than we have been at anytime in the premier league yet still alot of you want wholesale changes including sacking our most successful manager in a generation. Hindsight is a wonderful thing but be careful what you wish for, we can easily slip back to those wilderness years of 10th place finished every year and the selling of our best players. How quickly so many of you forget.

These are the best of times yet they are passing so many of you by because when you played championship manager you got spurs to top of the league every year so how come Harry cant do it, we must sack him immediately.Just listen to yourselves, just for one minute, then maybe open your eyes and face reality. It really isn't that bad and you might end up enjoying supporting your team instead of venting your spleen at them every week as you currently do.Its been a good season, infact its been a great couple of years and im optimistic that the next few will be just as good. Its just a shame one of the big let downs are our glory hunting fans, such a shame.

Anyone apart from those only supporting Spurs for only about 5-6 years can see that finishing above 6th is NOT something we do often. YES Harry went into talking rubbish mode. But it is because he gets thousands of people talking rubbish to him. There is no question of him getting sacked. Why would you sack the manager who has achieved 2 of your highest 3 points totals for twenty years? So we finished 8 points off last season's total? Well, last season we were not in the Champions League. Everyone's form dips when they enter that tournament for the first time plus Harry has to deal with this whilst the 25-man squad rule gets introduced at the same time. In previous years, you could pad out your league squad with lots of players to give you enough depth to deal with games every 3-4 days. It has been a good season, and it looks promising for the future. Let's be honest, there are a lot of jokers calling the phone lines. Not all are idiots of course.... Last season wasn't that great, if it wasn't for that storming run at the end of last season, we would have ended up with 62 points & 5th last year. It is a fine margin.

Could have been better but was a fantastic season. Harry is a great manager and considering the strains of the champions league and how far we got, 5th was a good finish. We are not an established top 4 team yet, we can be though.

the one positive thing about your blog, is that it is mildly better than sportingo. At least you don't quote your own words and put them in a separate box. Ooooo who said that... oh it was the author, what a cretin.

Just to run a small grammatical point past you Jimmy. The phrase 'This is as good as it gets' doesn't mean 'This is as good as it WILL get' - Can you see the difference between the two? There are tenses involved, stop me if I go too fast.

As in... Competing in the Champions League is as good as it gets. This means, for a footballer, being at the top level of competition is what you aspire to. It doesn't mean that it will never happen again or that you have reached a pinnacle... It is an ongoing state without end.

So, the statement in this context means that the club have competed at the top level but still aspire to be at that level and that the fans should have enjoyed the last season because we were playing at the highest level.

I think he, like myself, was bewildered that we could have played so brilliantly in the CL only for people to be disappointed and treat the season as a failure. Like another poster, I blame Championship bloody Manager.

I regularly listen to phone-ins driving away from WHL after the match. With very few exceptions the comments of those phoning in are idiotic, but being a reasonable man, I take into account that the people making those comments are letting off steam immediately after the game as a means of cooling their emotions to a manageable state. In the same vein, when Mr Redknapp is interviewed after the game, he needs to do the same, but is unable to do so as he feels he needs to be in "reasonable" mode for the sake of his image and thus his career. He manages to do this very well in the main, being nice to the opposition, nice to the officials, and nice to the interviewer - genial 'Arry, Jack the Lad. But it doesn't take too much of a devious interviewer to light the blue touch paper with a naughty question which he knows will get Harry's goat. Then the red mist descends just as it does with those giving their emotive rants on phone-in programmes. Just as they over-react, everything being terrible if we lose and glorious if we win, he over-reacts to their over-reaction and vastly overstates what is quite a good case. And one more thing: He's a Football Manager, not a F*ckin' Wheeler-dealer; Right!? Which is another example of an interviewer knowing just where to dig at a time when 'Arry is at his most vulnerable and excited: directly after the match.The trouble is, fans, in general, are very good at dishing it out (it's their "right") but nowhere near as good at taking it (How dare he? Who does he think he is? We pay his wages, and on and on and on).What is required here is a little perspective on both sides, but I know very well, I'm pissing in the wind.

I have to say that whilst I think Harry has done a decent (not spectacular) job and deserves another season to try to build on the successes and learn from the mistakes of this one, I have grave reservations about him as a person, his loyalty, commitment to Spurs, constant presence in the media, advertising his availability for the England job, pending court case, feeling for our history and traditions (ie UEFA cup), fans etc etc

I am also worried about the direction he wants to take us in terms of playing staff - ie his preference for older players approaching the twilight of their career on very high salaries (Beckham, Ferdinand, Drogba, Cole ....) which is in direct contrast with our recent approach of buying good yougsters, many of whom have instrumental in our success (Bale, Lennon, Hudd...).

I get the feeling that there are many Spurs supporters who dont necessarily dislike Harry but are disappointed with his self contradictory comments and self promotion.

As has been said before, he thinks he is best thing to happen to Spurs, whereas I feel Spurs is the best thing to happen to him....

Why does Harry "I'm the Best U Know" not refer to Spurs as US? Its always Tottenham, they or some other term, why not us?

As for the nonce that says unrealistic fans, glory hunting fans. You c*nt its called ambition! Are Chelski a bigger club than us, jog on please! Maybe their chairman is a little more ambitious than our own or Danny boy should go and see big bad Joe Lewis and say spend some of your money on my beloved Spurs Joe. Don't be silly that won't happen as I'm realistic!!! Think the club does not show the ambition some fans expect.

If Harry "I'm The Bollox" is too good for my beloved Tottenham then bring in Ancelotti & Wilkins!!! At least when commentating on spurs Wilkins calls us, US!

I have always loved Harry but unfortunately he has brought this on himself. Its not the first time lately he has refered to fans as idiots and as for saying go and support another team, no comment! Oh yeah Harry don't forget everyone is entitled to their opion the same as you, also you are correct some people talk complete bollox but then again so do you!

It's been a good season, with many highlights, and 5th, CL QF and qualifying for the EL is a very good effort. The last two months or so were very disappointing (quite shoddy at times) and we have missed a big opportunity to come 4th and CL football for next season.

Why is this so delusional/idiotic or indeed so very hard for Harry, the Anonymouses and many others to take on board?

Because we have been poor-to-mediocre in the past, does this mean that we should not be disappointed when a side good enough to qualify for the CL, and do well in it, misses out on qualifying the next season.

That's a generous appraisal of Harry's pearls of wisdom Grammar King or Queen (Anonymous 24 May 17:13. Let's hope you are right. If so, could you and Harry go a little slower next time, for us idiots.

He also says "Did they expect us to finish above Arsenal and Man City?" and he has been surprisingly thin skinned about any perceived criticism or slight during the past 2 seasons. Like all of us, Harry wants to have his cake and eat it.

He's done it once, let's hope it wasn't a fluke owing more to Liverpool's temporary eclipse. If it is, we'll always have Milan.

Interesting post John White.

Thanks for your pieces during the season Jimmy, enjoyable as ever and you make me laugh and think, at least.

frankly, we were very lucky at Anfield (or that the Reds were most unlucky, just "one of those days" for them) - and no i don't buy that crap from Harry about warning the boys about cutting short their hols.

Still, i think we deserved our kudos (and 5th place) from sheer spirit. The Champs' League probably proved to us how much we lack in depth - i reckon we need at least 2-3 more seasons to be able to secure another q-final or s-final in the CL.